Richard T. Ritenbaugh: A stroll through just about any cathedral in Europe, not to mention many a church just about anywhere in the world, would bring to the eye the sight of perhaps a handful or even dozens of ...

Martin Collins, focusing on the six-pointed star, the shield of David or the Magen David, appearing on the Israeli flag, points out that this symbol does not have an inherently Jewish meaning, but was actually introduced into the Jewish community in Prague during the 17th Century. Like the "cross" of Christendom, the so-called "star of David" has its origins in ancient Egyptian and Babylonian paganism. In the prohibition of Deuteronomy 4:17, worship of stars and heavenly constellations is considered a form of idolatry. The hexagram star was always associated with occult magic practices in Zoroastrian and Druid religion. Some Orthodox Jewish organizations vehemently rejected the Magen David as a symbol, claiming that it infiltrated Judaism from occultist practices, notably through the 13th Century Kabbala. The red six-point star had served as a crest for the Jewish Rothschild family, which influenced the Zionist movement to accept the star of David as the chief symbol of Judaism. Sadly, the six-point six-sided hexagon, a tool of witches' mediums, will not guide one to walk with God.

The northern tribes of Israel, having rejected Davidic rule, chose Jeroboam as their king, and he soon led the Northern Kingdom into apostasy. Charles Whitaker shows that after just over 200 years, Israel fell to Assyria, and it people were taken captive and transported to Media. Judah lasted about a century and a half longer, falling to Babylon in 585 BC.

Richard Ritenbaugh, reflecting upon the technological and linguistic changes that have occurred in the short span of one century, marvels at the drastic decrease of our attention span and the corresponding degradation of language. The dramatic shift in orientation from words to pictures has weakened thought and the transmission of ideas, "dumbing down" our culture toward drabness, unaesthetic plainness, and imprecision. Because virtually everything we know about God comes through words, this denigration of language (the vehicle transmitting spiritual truths, metaphorical bread or food) could prove highly detrimental to our spiritual welfare. Spiritually, relying exclusively on images leads to shallowness of thought at best and idolatry at its worst. The Word of God, however, provides depth and nourishment leading to salvation and eternal life. Through God's Spirit, we need to learn how to process the Word of God effectively and efficiently.

Nebuchadnezzar's image has always held a certain fascination with students of Bible prophecy. What do the various parts mean? How does it relate to the end time? Richard Ritenbaugh explains the image and its prophetic implications.

John Ritenbaugh insists that the reprobate mind God consigned to nonbelievers (a mind incapable of moral judgment) constitutes the basis for the world's dubious standards of morality and idolatry. Discernment of right and wrong comes exclusively from doing the will of God. Idolatry derives from worshiping the work of our own hands or our own mental fabrications (imposing our own will against God's) rather than the true God (to be worshiped only in spirit and truth). Whatever consumes our thoughts and behavior (motivated by lust or covetousness for something forbidden by God's law) has become our god or our idol.

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The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 145,000 subscribers are already receiving each day.

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